M-W reaches final chapter

Sunday

Nov 25, 2007 at 2:00 AMNov 25, 2007 at 2:05 AM

Forget for a moment that you finally will get the end of a storyline you've been following since late August. Take a step back, and imagine opening the book on this Monroe-Woodbury team for the first time.

Kevin Witt

Forget for a moment that you finally will get the end of a storyline you've been following since late August. Take a step back, and imagine opening the book on this Monroe-Woodbury team for the first time.

The first question that jumps off the page: How in the heck did Monroe-Woodbury get into the Class AA state championship game with a sophomore quarterback?

Nobody, not even those wearing the purple, black and white, could have predicted Danny Scalo's impact. And as much as the idea of laying this all on a 16-year-old kid may be unsettling, this is no ordinary 16-year-old.

Scalo, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 190 pounds, has run for 1,788 yards on just 160 carries, with 27 touchdowns. He's also thrown for 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns. His teammates can't say enough about him. Opponents have yet to find a way to stop him.

Now West Genesee, the Syracuse-area champion, gets the chance today at the Syracuse University Carrier Dome. Kickoff is 3 p.m.

Remember how hard it was for anybody local to get here for so long? Now Monroe-Woodbury (12-0) will try and win its second Class AA state title in the last three years. Only one other school has done this — Rochester-area Webster in 1999 and 2001. Monroe-Woodbury won the Class AA state title in 2005.

Take the other route. Imagine carrying the weight of your football program's history on your shoulders — on top of trying to win the biggest game of your life.

Nobody on this year's Monroe-Woodbury football team really had anything to do with the 2005 championship squad, but these kids owe those some thanks.

"Winning one takes the pressure off of everybody," Monroe-Woodbury coach Pat D'Aliso said. "This is hard enough without having to deal with the Buffalo Bills syndrome."

This game is at a neutral site, but make no mistake, Monroe-Woodbury is not going to be the crowd favorite. West Genesee, relatively speaking, is about a 9-iron from the Carrier Dome and should draw huge.

A record crowd of close to 15,000 attended last year's Class AA final because Monroe-Woodbury's opponent — Auburn — brought about 12,000 of them. Auburn is about half an hour from Syracuse and West Genesee is closer. Monroe-Woodbury lost 27-26 in overtime.

The Monroe-Woodbury kids relished the booing, but the constant noise was much louder than the year before, when Monroe-Woodbury beat Rochester-area's Webster Thomas. Roughly 4,000 people attended that game.

Monroe-Woodbury worked on silent snap counts all week, and even practiced indoors with stereo speakers turned to West Genesee-at-the-Dome levels.

Noise won't be the only obstacle. West Genesee senior quarterback Tim Moran has thrown for more than 2,200 yards out of the spread offense. He threw three touchdown passes in a 30-27 semifinal victory over Orchard Park.

"He throws the ball all over the field," D'Aliso said. "Their offense is very sophisticated, which you would expect it to be since they are coached by a former Syracuse coach. We're looking for them to throw the ball 25-30 times."